


cards

by transbuck



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Gen, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Valentine's Day, bc they are the Best father and son, buck calls bobby dad and bobby calls buck son, buck is soft and good and deserves the world, valentines day cards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-27 16:20:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17770154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/transbuck/pseuds/transbuck
Summary: He has a pile of Valentine's Day cards sitting on his bedside table that he spent hours on the night before, just waiting to be given out to his closest friends. Before this year, he had never realized that Valentine's Day wasn't exclusively about romantic love—it's about platonic and familial love, too. And with that realization, he decided that this year, he is going to do what is perhaps the most sentimental thing he has ever done and make homemade cards for the people he cares most about. He knows he's going to get teased relentlessly for being so affectionate, but the reactions the cards will pull out of his friends will make it worth it. He did agonize over the right words to write in the cards for hours, after all.





	cards

When Buck finally wakes up, it's with a broad grin and excitement bubbling in his chest. He has a pile of Valentine's Day cards sitting on his bedside table that he spent hours on the night before, just waiting to be given out to his closest friends. Before this year, he had never realized that Valentine's Day wasn't exclusively about romantic love—it's about platonic and familial love, too. And with that realization, he decided that this year, he is going to do what is perhaps the most sentimental thing he has ever done and make homemade cards for the people he cares most about. He knows he's going to get teased relentlessly for being so affectionate, but the reactions the cards will pull out of his friends will make it worth it. He did agonize over the right words to write in the cards for hours, after all.

He gets out of bed, still a little tired and wishing he could lay right back down, scoops up the pile of envelopes off his bedside table and trudges out of his room. The first thing he sees upon entering the kitchen is Maddie rushing around like a madwoman. "What's up with you?" he asks, and the sudden noise makes Maddie jump. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," Buck says when she turns toward him.

"It's fine, it's fine. I'm just trying not to be late," Maddie replies, moves toward Buck to press a quick kiss to Buck's cheek. "Whaddya got there?" she asks once she returns to her frantic preparations for the day.

"Cards," Buck says simply, pulling the envelope with his sister's name written neatly on the front. He wordlessly hands it to her.

"Oh? What for?"

"It's Valentine's Day, Mads. Wanted to do something special for everyone."

Maddie pauses, tilts her head with a fond smile, pressing a hand to her chest. "Aw, Buck! That's so sweet. I'd open it now, but..."

"No, it's fine, I get it. You should go, I don't want you to be late. You can just open it on your break."

"Ugh! You're the best," Maddie exclaims. She pulls Buck into a tight hug with a broad grin. Buck hugs her tightly right back, presses a kiss to the top of her head. "Am I still gonna see you tonight or are you gonna spend the night at Eddie's?"

"Yeah, I'll be home. I wanna hear all about your hot date with Chim this evening," Buck says with a teasing grin. Maddie gasps indignantly, pulls away from Buck and swats his shoulder. "Okay, okay, get outta here! Go get to work, I'll see you later."

"Alright, okay, fine, I'm going," Maddie replies, heading toward the door. "Stay safe!"

"I always do!" Buck shouts after her as she leaves the apartment. He grins, starts making himself some coffee. He can hardly wait to hear from Maddie after she opens her card.

 

***

 

When Buck makes his way to the station for his shift, he's practically bursting with excitement. He keeps a tight grip on all of the envelopes, eyes searching for the day's second card recipient as he makes his way up the stairs. The first person he sees is Chimney, sitting casually at the kitchen table, and he grins as he makes his way over to him. Wordlessly, he plops down the envelope with Chimney's name written neatly on the front right in front of the man himself.

"What's this?" Chimney asks, lifting the envelope and inspecting it.

"Valentine's Day card," Buck says simply, sitting down in the seat next to him.

"What is this, elementary school?"

"Shut up and open it."

Chimney snorts, rolls his eyes as he starts to tear open the envelope. At this point Buck's practically  _vibrating_ with how excited he is. The silence is almost deafening as Chimney pulls the card out, opens it, and reads the neatly written words on the inside. Once he's finished, he sets the card down, turns to look at Buck. "Did you mean all that?" Buck nods vigorously. Chimney huffs, and Buck can tell that he's fighting back tears. Buck lets out a little laugh when Chimney pulls him in for a brief hug.

"You like it?" Buck asks.

"Yeah, I love it. But don't go and get a big head about it, alright?" Chimney replies, and Buck can't help but laugh again.

When he looks over, he sees Hen walking by. "Now if you'll excuse me," he says while standing up, "I've got some more cards to give out." He rushes over to Hen, who's made herself comfortable on the couch. He plops down next to her, sets her card down on her lap. "Happy Valentine's Day, Hen," he says simply.

"For me?" She asks, sending him an incredulous look. All he does is nod. She raises an eyebrow slightly as she lifts the card and tears open the envelope. Buck looks on with a broad grin as she pulls the card out and reads through what he's written for her. He watches with glee as her expression slowly brightens, and once she's finished reading it, she pulls him into a side hug. "You're a sap," she says simply. "You know I'm gonna tease you about this forever, right?"

"I figured," Buck responds, throwing his arms around Hen. "But seeing you smile like that makes it worth it." He pulls away from the hug for a moment, hands her two more envelopes, one with  _Karen_ written neatly on the front, the other with  _Denny_ written. "Here. Give these to them for me?"

"Oh my God!" Hen exclaims, picking the cards up. "You made cards for my wife and kid too?"

"Yeah. I mean, they're part of the fire fam, too, so," Buck trails off, shrugging a bit. "Lemme know what they think?"

"They're gonna love them, I know it." Hen pauses to look over Buck's shoulder. "Looks like your pops is here. I bet you got him a card too, you should go give it to him."

Buck turns his head, grins when he sees Bobby. "Talk to you later?" he asks as he stands, not bothering to wait for a response before he rushes over to Bobby. "Hey, Happy Valentine's day, Dad," he says once he reaches Bobby. "I, uh, made you something." He hands the card to Bobby.

"You made something?" Bobby asks with a grin. He opens the card agonizingly slow, and by the time he's finally opened it up and begun reading it, Buck's hopping in place. Once he's finished reading it, he wordlessly pulls Buck in for a tight hug. Buck doesn't realize that he's started tearing up until his vision blurs as he wraps his arms tightly around Bobby. "Thank you, son," Bobby murmurs, and it only makes Buck tear up even more. He finally pulls away, hands gripping Buck's shoulders tightly. "I really appreciate the card."

Buck grins at him, sniffles a little and wipes at his eyes. "No problem, pops," Buck replies bashfully. "Oh, by the way," he says, handing Bobby three more cards. "For Athena and her kids. Lemme know what they think?"

Bobby takes the cards with a grateful smile, pulls Buck in for a brief hug. "Thank you, Buck. Seriously."

Buck's cheeks flush, and he ducks his head a little. "It was no big deal," he says with a shrug. He glances over Bobby's shoulder, perks up when he sees Eddie coming up the stairs. "I'm gonna go— Eddie."

Bobby glances behind him, chuckles when he sees Eddie. "Go get him," he replies simply.

Buck grins, rushes off toward Eddie. Eddie doesn't get the chance to say anything before Buck's crashing his lips against Eddie's, pulling him in for a tight hug. "Happy Valentine's Day, babe," Buck murmurs against Eddie's lips.

"Happy Valentine's Day, honey," Eddie murmurs, hands coming up to cup Buck's cheeks gently. It's at this point that he notices the remaining three cards in Buck's hands. "What are those for?"

"Oh!" Buck pulls his hands away, hands Eddie the envelope with a big heart drawn on the front of it. "For you."

Eddie raises both eyebrows as he pulls his hands away from Buck's face, gently takes the card into his hands. He opens it quickly, and Buck waits excitedly for him to finish reading it. Once he's finished, he gives Buck a fond smile, tears in his eyes. "Oh, sweetheart," he murmurs, pulls Buck in for another kiss, a bit slower and deeper than the first one. "Do you mean everything you wrote?" Buck nods, blushes furiously.  _"Querido_. Thank you. You're a total sweetheart. I love you."

"I love you, too," Buck murmurs bashfully.

"You're still coming over for dinner after work, right?" Eddie asks, cupping Buck's face and gently rubbing his cheek with his thumb.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Good. Christopher's been looking forward to tonight all week."

"Me, too. And speaking of Christopher, I made him a card too. And I also made Carla a card. She's watching Christopher today after he gets outta school, right?" Eddie nods wordlessly and he blinks back tears furiously. "Hey, why're you crying?"

"I'm just," Eddie pauses to sniffle, pulls his hand from Buck's face to wipe his tears away. "I'm just really happy. I'm so lucky to have you."

"I'm happy, too," Buck replies, presses a sweet kiss to Eddie's lips. "And I can't wait for dinner tonight. You cookin'?"

"You know it."

"Oh, God, tonight is going to be  _delicious_." Just as Eddie starts laughing, Buck feels his phone buzz in his pocket. He quickly pulls it out, grins when he sees Maddie's name on the screen. "Hold on, I think Mads just opened her card."

"Go, go answer her," Eddie says, nudging Buck away.

Buck chuckles as he goes and finds a quiet corner to answer Maddie in. Just as he's about to say something to her, she interrupts with a loud, "Oh my God, Buck, are you for real?"

"So you opened it?" Buck asks through a laugh.

" _Buck_ ," Maddie says sincerely. "Buck, I am in the middle of  _crying_ right now. This card is so sweet! And  _cute_! Oh my God, I feel so bad that I didn't get you anything."

"Hey, it's fine," Buck replies. "I didn't even want to anyone to get me anything. I just wanted to let you know that I care, y'know?" Maddie sniffles and Buck hears her crying even more. "Hey, hey, don't cry!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's just..." Maddie pauses to sigh. "How did I get the sweetest little brother ever?"

"You just got lucky, I guess."

"I did. I'm so lucky to have you. I love you, Buck."

"Love you, too, Mads. With all my heart."

"I should go," Maddie says after a moment. "I'll see you tonight after dinner?"

"You know it. You tell me all about your hot date with Chim, and I'll tell you all about my hot date with Eddie."

"I retract my previous statement, I'm  _unlucky_ to have you. You're horrible," Maddie says through laughter.

"Yeah, yeah. You love me," Buck replies through breathy chuckles.

"Sometimes," Maddie huffs. "Seriously, though. I'm gonna go. I'll talk to you later. Have a good day. Stay safe. I love you."

"Have a good day, too, Mads. Love you," Buck murmurs. When Maddie hangs up, Buck sighs happily, shoves his phone back in his pocket. As he looks around the station and catches the eyes of all of his closest friends, his  _family_ , he can't help but think that this has been the best Valentine's Day ever.


End file.
